Crossing of Eden End

This is a story I wrote when I was ten, I found it in an old folder and thought I would share it with you lovely people! I think this is the first actual mystery novel I began to write, it's sort of like a take on a series of unfortunate events in a way I suppose. But anyway, enjoy!

1. The Beginning

Felix Eden was FORBIDDEN to set a single toe in Mottlegreen Park. After his last escapade, which had ended quite badly (with Granny Peachtree being sped to hospital) his parents had made it quite clear that running away was pointless and a waste of time, let alone incredibly naughty. Felix didn’t think so.

After being sent to his room for the fifth time that day, Felix gave up arguing and lolloped on his bed. He was just about to slip into sleep, but a faint cheering and laughing that was going on outside arose him. Felix slumped across his room to look. It was his friends playing football. How come everyone else’s lives were so amazingly brilliant except his? If there was a God up there, Felix thought that He was being really unfair. Thinking that it was useless to hang around all day, Felix removed the picture of the elephant from his wall to reveal a hole the size of 10 pence. Quietly he murmured into it, “Silva, meet me in base in 5 minutes.” Then he scribbled on a post it note and slid it down his floorboards where Monty, who was meditating, received it on his head. It read, “Monty, meet me in base in 5 minutes.” After that Felix stole quietly across the landing to Any’s room and knocked on her door. Being only two, Any was too young to receive a secret communication signal, but after a previous club meeting it was agreed that she shouldn’t be left out of the club. The door opened. “May I help you?” Any asked.

“What are you doing?” Felix wondered out loud, oblivious to whatever his brainy little sister was up to. “I am trying to calculate the numeric data of an equilateral triangle with a ratio of 3.5. It is extremely complex.”

“I can see that! How long do you think you’re going to be?”

“Two hours, four minutes and thirty-two seconds.”

“Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, we’re having a club meeting in three minutes.”

“I suppose I could postpone my work until further notice.”

“That’s good.”

And the two siblings linked fingers and tiptoed off.

“I just don’t know what to do with them!” Mrs Eden moaned throwing How To Be The Perfect Parent on the floor. “I mean, Felix keeps on running away, Silva is not interested in joining beauty pageants and Any is up to level eight mathematics at two years old! As for Monty, why, he is just invisible!”

Mr Eden sighed and looked at his wife sympathetically. “My dear,” He said softly. “Look at our children. They’re beautiful. You can’t make them what you want them to be, you’ve just got to let them go.”

Mrs Eden took one look at the pink and puffy silk dress she had made for Silva and broke down in massive sobs. Mr Eden put an arm around his wife and Mrs Eden cuddled up against it gratefully. “Why don’t we just leave them to get on with their lives,” Mr Eden suggested, “If they want to leave, they can. If Felix really wants to run away, then he can. Instead of thinking it as evil, think that we are giving our children a proper push-off into the world.”

“So?” Asked Mrs Eden, “How are we going to do it?”

“They need to be out by the morning. If not, there’s going to be trouble.”

“Felix, I don’t care what you’re up to and I don’t really care, just PLEASE don’t involve us.”

“But this time it’s going to work!”

“I don’t care.”

Silva folded her arms and slumped in her beanbag, her dark curls cascading over her shoulders like a liquorice waterfall. Any fondly twisted a curl around her finger. Monty lay curled up with a book on a couple of cushions, ignoring the bickering. His sister and brother’s disputes occurred quite regularly, and it was best to just ignore them. After 10 minutes, however, Monty slammed his book shut and pushed his glasses even further up his nose. He had had enough. “Come on Silvy, don’t make harsh judgements, we haven’t even heard the plan yet. Give Felix a chance, eh?”

Silva gave in a grumbled crossly at haven been beaten. “Well, go on then Felly, spill the beans.”

And Felix told them about his latest escapade, how he wasn’t allowed to leave the house without supervision, and his hunger for freedom. He then asked Silva what she thought of their parents. Silva ranted on about ‘stupid’ beauty pageants, and how she just wanted to wear jeans and have her hair loose. Monty didn’t have much to say, as usual, except he was always forgotten and his parents had forgotten his birthday three times. Any moaned about not being tutored or allowed to start pre-school at least. Felix scribbled down the complaints and then spent 5 minutes writing down some figures, scrunching his eyebrows up until they were like a furry caterpillar. Finally Felix cleared his throat and said, “Due to all the complaints we have made, there is only one solution. We shall have to run away.”

Dinner Time. Mrs Eden was busy dishing out sausages, while Mr Eden poured out raspberry cordial. “Eat up, Silva,” Mrs Eden called from the kitchen, “You want to have a perfect figure for Little Miss Perfect next month!” Silva pushed the fatty sausages around her plate with her fork. “Mummy, I want to be a veggie, I’ve told you that hundred’s of times before. And also, I’m not competing in Little Miss Perfect. I want to be a Zoologist, not a model.”

“Oh no you won’t. Your figure is too perfect to pass.” And with a tut and a shake of her head, Mrs Eden scooped up Silva’s sausages and poured some cabbage onto her plate instead. Silva looked at the cabbage and obediently put it into her mouth. Felix on the other hand was gobbling up his sausages and asked for seconds. Any was reading and eating at the same time, until Mr Eden snatched it off from the table. “For God’s sake, child, won’t you ever learn to just be a normal two-year-old? You are such a weirdo!!” And with that Any ran upstairs and hid for cover under her bedspread. Monty was quietly scooping up his sausages furtively, but after the outbursts he stood up and banging his fists on the table he screamed, “YOU MONSTER! How DARE you scream at Any like that! You are not fit to be her father!” As for Mr Eden, he smiled at Monty like a Cheshire Cat, and murmured, “Oh, don’t you worry my son. I soon won’t be.” Monty took one look at his father and raced upstairs without looking back. Silva followed him like a magnet. As for Felix, he gave a filthy look at his parents and breathed slowly, “ Goodnight. We won’t be back.”

“Right, that’s it!” Felix shouted, pacing up and down his room like an emperor making a world changing decision. “We are leaving tonight.” Monty patted Felix friendly on the shoulder. “Come on Felly, you’ve done that so many times before and you just get brought back by the Police.”

“That won’t happen this time, I promise.” Silva and Any shook their heads worriedly. “We need to plan it,” Silva suggested, but Felix cut her off. ‘It’s all sorted,” he reassured her. Monty held up four rucksacks. “Me and Felix have it all ready. Please come. Just think, it will be like the adventure we never had! Why don’t we swear on the club oath, that we will look after each other always, for ever, and ever?”

“EDEN’S FOR ALWAYS, FOR EVER AND EVER, NEVER TO BE APART.” And they all spat on their hands and clasped each other’s. This was an oath they couldn’t break.

It was Midnight before they had even reached the first signpost. Silva’s long nightgown was torn and muddy at the ends, and Any was trudging along, dragging her teddy bear, her eyes drooping. Monty suddenly dropped, and Silva rushed to his aid. After a drop of precious Pine-Bark tea, he was back on his feet. Felix looked at his siblings concernedly, he knew his sisters’ were close to tears and Monty’s muscle strength was failing. Down in his heart Felix knew the sensible thing to do would be to turn back and tuck them up in their nice, warm beds. However this wasn’t about the sensible thing to do, this was about the right thing to do.

“We need to get to the road that will take us to town, therefore shelter,” Monty murmured, studying his cracked compass. “Well which way is that, Smarty-pants?” Asked Felix, with more than a hint of despair.

Any then let out a tremendous yawn and fell asleep on a soft mossy bank. Silva looked hopefully at Felix, and croaked, “Please… I’m so…” and with that Silva collapsed next to Any and went into a troubled sleep. Felix was about to protest, but when he turned around Monty was asleep to, in a cowpat. Gently he lifted his brother out of the poo-cushion and placed him next to Silva. Taking the three blankets they had brought with them he rolled one up and put it under Silva, Any and Monty’s head to act as a pillow. The other two he used to tuck his siblings in. After Felix was certain everyone else was warm and comfortable, he scrunched himself into a ball to keep himself warm, as there weren’t any blankets left. He wished there was someone to tuck him in.